Thursday, September 16, 2010

What's in a name? A rose is a rose until you trademark it.

Today is the last day of Fashion Week in New York. According to the schedule IVANAhelsinki will be showing their line today at 9:00 p.m. (that's right now!)

This is big, big news! Even the Finnish Consulate in New York is excited! The runway show is a first for a Finnish design house and that surprises me because Finland is known for design.

But, this being New York, there has to be some Trump action. Ivana Trump is suing the Finns for what she claims is a violation of her trademark on the name Ivana, even though the designer's name is Paola Ivana Suhonen.

Ivana Trump could be a Gold Bug!

What is a Gold Bug? Good question! I am sure that there are no gold bugs in Finland.

My first run in with a gold bug was in the law library in Savannah. He was a small man who did nothing but poke into law books (the older, the better) and file countless motions. I ran into another gold bug in the federal courthouse in Atlanta. He claimed that the court had no jurisdiction over him because the American flag in the courtroom had a gold fringe and was therefore a "flag in admiralty". Just a friendly word of warning: If you find yourself in court and your best argument concerns the fringe on the flag....you should have your toothbrush with you.

If I ran into 2 gold bugs in Georgia, avid newspaper readers in NH will not be surprised to know that there are gold bugs aplenty here in the Granite State.

Gold Bugs are people who believe that (among other things) since the dollar is not tied to the gold standard they do not need to pay taxes. Don't ask me to explain any further. I just can't. But like Ivana Trump, gold bugs understand the power of the trademark.

I don't know where Ivana Trump stands on the gold standard or fluoridated water, but she is raining on the Finnish fashion parade. If La Trump were absolutely fabulous, she would plop herself down in front of the runway and enjoy the show.